When a serpentine tape drive is used as a slow random access device, the I/O performance can be substantially improved by clever re-ordering of the I/O requests. This kind of re-ordering relies on a scheduling algorithm and a model of the access time. In this paper, we propose a low-cost access time model for serpentine tape drives, which is not a trivial task due to the complex data layout of ...

Various flow field designs have been numerically investigated to evaluate the effect of pattern and cross-sectional dimensions channel on performance a large active area PEM fuel cell. Three types multiple-serpentine channels (7-channels, 11-channels 14-channels) chosen for 200 cm2 cell analysed by varying width land channel. The CFD simulations showed that as decreases, in 14-channels serpenti...

This paper describes the design, implementation, and machine learning issues associated with developing a control system for a serpentine robotic manipulator. The purpose of the control system is to provide autonomous/teleoperative control of the serpentine robotic manipulator, as well as full robotic control during operation of the manipulator within an enclosed environment such as an undergro...

Nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS and ETS) sequences from 39 native Californian (USA) Allium species and congeners were combined with 154 ITS sequences available on GenBank to develop a global Allium phylogeny with the simultaneous goals of investigating the evolutionary history (monophyly) of Allium in the Californian center of diversity and exploring patterns of adaptation to serpentine soils. Phylo...

While the signal quality of recording neural electrodes is observed to degrade over time, the degradation mechanisms are complex and less easily observable. Recording microelectrodes failures are attributed to different biological factors such as tissue encapsulation, immune response, and disruption of blood-brain barrier (BBB) and non-biological factors such as strain due to micromotion, insul...

An intracellular conformational switch in the serpentine transmembrane protein Smoothened appears to underlie Hedgehog pathway activation. The switch is gated by electrostatic interactions that are regulated by multiple phosphorylations, potentially endowing a dose-dependent response.

Asbestos is the generic commercial designation for a group of naturally occurring mineral silicate fibres of the serpentine and amphibole series. These include the serpentine mineral chrysotile (also known as ‘white asbestos’), and the five amphibole minerals – actinolite, amosite (also known as ‘brown asbestos’), anthophyllite, crocidolite (also known as ‘blue asbestos’), and tremolite (IARC, ...

The mam plant communities of ultramafic (serpentine) outcrops of a Mediterranean area in central Italy are described and their successional pathway discussed. Four vegetation stages are distinguished: a) an endemic garigue stage, with high percentage of exposed rocky soil belonging to Armerio-Alyssetum bertolonii; b) a garigue stage similar to the previous one but with several Mediterranean eve...